


A Variable Without Function

by bellygunnr



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Identity Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-05-13 19:13:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14754647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellygunnr/pseuds/bellygunnr
Summary: X has awoken early. The world is at peace but robotkind still lacks the unique freewill that X possesses, marking him as not only the first of his kind but as a total outsider as well.





	1. Early Bird

The room he was in was a dire mess. A brief scan told him of the clutter littering the floor, so that he stepped carefully, and another let him assay the mess upon the tables. There were papers, as well, that he shuffled together and made into a neat pile so that organizing everything else was simpler. He wasn’t sure what everything was but felt oddly certain that it was all meant for him.

Oddly certain that he was… somewhere right. He was supposed to be here. And if he was meant to be here, then surely he was meant to clean up this mess. He made quick work of the items and pokey things, arranging them by size and color rather than purpose. It required a lot of feeling and grasping- there was no light- and he hissed when something breached his skin.

He cataloged the foreign sensation with the others: wonder, apprehension, disgust, and curiosity. 

A little while later, he cataloged ‘tired’ and returned to his bed.

 

“Roll, were you in my lab last night?” Dr. Light inquired of his daughter, staring at the cleanliness that had transformed some of it. 

“No… I was asleep all night,” she said. “Why? What’s wrong?”

Dr. Light frowned as he made out a path leading from his creation’s bed to one of his workbenches. His frown grew deeper when he saw the arrangement: all of his tools were lined up in a peculiar way. Dried specks of a black fluid dotted the table and his tools but otherwise, nothing else had changed.

“Roll, dear. Will you play back the security footage in this lab?”  


	2. Potential

That night, Dr. Light waited in darkness for his creation to reawaken. Work had gone with ease- there was no sign he had even gone active- throughout the day, but he knew that he would have to confront him at night. It did not take very long. Within the hour, the tell-tale sound of hydraulics alerted Light.

Metal clinked on metal. He heard X vent a sigh as his maintenance hatch closed, servos whining as he began to move. The strides were uneven and less certain, Light could tell- systems struggling to navigate in the pitch, he assumed. But it wasn’t long before X was at his desk, green optics hovering eerily.

“You… are creator Doctor Thomas Light,” X stated. His voice was clearly synthesized, though that would change with time. “You were not present last night.”

“That’s right, X… I was sleeping, unlike you. What are you doing awake?” Light replied calmly. Excitement bubbled in his gut- and a little apprehension. What X was doing should be impossible.

“This… room…. is a mess. It is difficult to walk and I dislike it,” the android said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

“I get caught up in my work. I didn’t know my habits were disturbing your… sleep?” Light said.

“No sleep. You said ‘X.’ Is that my name, like you are Thomas Light? I cannot find it in my personal registry, or my ID…” X said, his voice picking up. He sounded anxious.

No sleep? Dr. Light stared up at X with bewilderment. If he didn’t sleep, and wasn’t offline, was he in a state of constant consciousness? That was concerning. If so, Light would have to be more considerate in the morning. He had no idea he was online…

“Creator? Is ‘X’ my name?” X pressed.

“Ah… Yes, it is. It is what I have dubbed you because of your ability to adapt and learn beyond any other robot of this era,” the Doctor said hastily. “It’s–”

“A variable…” X supplied. His shoulders felt heavy.

“Yes, a variable.”


	3. Chapter 3

The next night, the room was spotless. X scanned the darkness and decided that he would switch on the lights, so that he may see beyond the topographic silhouettes. He winced as the harsh lights powered on though- this was his first exposure to a full-lit room. But this time it was clean, and that pleased him.

He wandered over to one of the many workbenches lining the wall, studying the surface. There were no tools adorning the surface– something bubbled in his chest, a new sensation, just another to be cataloged. Not surprise- he had experienced that before- but… 

Disappointment, he decided.

Organizing the tools had been enjoyable, he reasoned, so it was a disappointment that they were gone. Yes…

“X! I thought you’d be awake!”

High, higher register, lighter steps, metal against the floor- a robot, like him- occupant of the lab… He turned around slowly to meet the voice, inhaling gradually.

“D- don’t look so surprised! How are you feeling? I’m Roll- I don’t know if you knew that…” The robot- Roll, Roll, Roll- was tense all over, clearly nervous, put off by something. What was it?

“I am fine, Roll,” X said finally. He stared at her unblinkingly, especially as she broke his ideal perimeters. “It is… late. Why are you online?”

“I could be asking you that! Why are you rummaging around so much? Waking up the whole neighborhood…” Roll pulled a chair out from the bench and sat upon it. X fought the urge to remove her- that was his creator’s chair! 

Instead, he continued staring. “…I dislike being disturbed by you. Is creator Thomas Light well? He was frustrated today.”

Roll put X to bed after that with a clever concoction of words and inner spite.


	4. Legacy

X had escaped the lab last night. By morning, he was still missing, but there was no sign or whisper of him. Panic swelled and flared from Light Labs– X was a super-advanced robot, if he was discovered, there would be questions. There would be media. And the Good Doctor had begun work on him without a grant, contract, or any other bureaucracy.

It was imperative they retrieved X as soon as possible.

“Rock. I must ask you to go out and find him. He doesn’t know what kind of danger he poses…” Light said, voice hushed.

“I’ll bring him back, Dad. I’m sure he can’t have gotten far…”

And so Rock struck out into the early morning, equipped in his worn blue armor. It was always heavier than the last time he’d worn it. Maybe it would be lighter by the time he found X.

 

He found him in the park closest to the lab. His energy seemed to have run down as he was leaned against a tree, red crystal pulsing so faintly as he drank in the weak sunlight. His hands were folded over his chest, mummy-like, and Rock could detect no noise from him.

A bird sang sweetly overhead.

“X,” he said quietly.

The robot blinked awake, eyes devoid of color until the optics went online.

“We need to go back to the lab, now,” Rock urged.

“…No,” said X. “I have questions about the lab and your home.”

Rock blinked in surprise. “What… kind of questions?” 

“It is pitifully easy to escape- there is no security. But there are remnants of a security system such as inactive cameras, proximity alarms, and signature readers,” X explained. He sat up, hydraulics exhaling.

“…Yes, we used to have the Lab locked up tight when a man named Dr. Wily was at large. It was to protect against his Robot Masters,” Rock said slowly. He approached X, knelt beside him. “How did you… Why…?”

“Is this Doctor no longer at large? Where is Wily now? There was nothing about a second Doctor anywhere…!” X’s voice rose, as if outraged.

“Wily… well, he died, after terrorizing the country and planet for decades, X. It’s a very long story. Did you know my name used to be Mega Man?”

They sat across from each other now, baleful meeting apprehensive. Rock folded his hands in his lap as he waited for X to speak.

“Mega Man… is familiar. I believe that is what the Doctor has attempted to dub me recently.  _Mega Man X_ ,” X admitted. “Does he intend for me to inherit a title, a position, a job? What is Mega Man?”

Mega Man X. Rock logged this for later- something to question his father about. “I don’t know all that, X, but I can tell you about Mega Man. About me… See, when Wily first began trying to take over the world, there was no one to stop him. I chose to be converted from a simple lab robot to a fighting robot.”

He had X’s focus now. But something was strange.

“I fought him back the first time, but it just kept getting worse. The world was in constant fear with no end in sight. Every success was harder, more costly, and countless humans and robots died. Both innocent and guilty…” Rock’s voice flooded with static, silencing him. He bowed his head.

The helmet was not lighter.

X remained silent.

“ _We– sh-shhh-ould ret–urn to– lab…_ ”

Rock looked up, startled. X was stiff as a board, light flooding from his gem and from his eyes.


	5. Bed Time

By the time they had returned to the lab, X had recovered from his sudden fit. It took them the better part of an hour– Rock dragged his counterpart along through every hidden alley and backroad he had logged in his memory. If anyone saw them, there would be questions. There would be rumours.

“Ah! Thank goodness you two are safe,” Dr. Light cried. He swept the two of them up, quickly ushering them inside. “I was worried sick…”

“I’m sorry it took so long, Dad,” Rock said sheepishly. “We had to take the long way ‘round.”

“That’s quite alright, Rock. You did just fine,” he said reassuringly. “X, why did you go off on your own?”

X looked down at him dumbly, as if trying to process the words. “I… needed to think and process, Doctor, which I could not do in the lab.”

“We all need time to reflect and introspect, X… But you gave us all a scare. It’s important that you stay inside until you are complete! I don’t want anything bad to happen to you,” the Doctor explained gently. 

X nodded, uncertain and exhausted. He looked away from the Doctor to stare at Rock. Would he say anything about what happened? Did he care? No, he was… very tired. His processors were heavy and laden with information. He wanted to sleep.

On a bed.

“I… I’m tired, Doctor,” X mumbled. “I wanna go to bed.” 

“…You have had a busy night,” Dr. Light conceded. This was curious- robots didn’t need to sleep, let alone Reploids. “Of course…?” He was hesitant to offer the lab up to him- he had a feeling X didn’t mean that kind of bed.

“I want to go to bed!” X cried, stomping his boots. The smash of metal was loud and abrasive. “I’m tired! I want to sleep!”

Rock grabbed his hand, optics flying wide. “You can sleep in my room, X! You can sleep there! Okay? Just follow me…”

That seemed to pacify the blue reploid. Calmer now, he let himself be led to Rock’s room, let himself be gently pushed into the bed. A rush of familiarity swept over him– he had done this before, somewhere. Somehow.

“Thank you, Rock…” X sighed.

“Of course, X,” he replied. He patted his brother’s helmet.


	6. Quite Alright

The bed is soft, but dwarfed by X's bulky armour. Rock has to keep himself from laughing at the comical sight- that wouldn't be very nice, and would probably push X into a proper tantrum. He wondered if he and Roll had been the same when they were newly built. It was difficult to recall. With so many repairs and beatings under his belt, his processors were far from the pristine machines they were supposed to be. But that was okay.

"Feel better?" Rock asked quietly. He brought the blanket over his chest, biting his lip. "Sleep as long as you need. Here..." He began to grab his charging cable, but was stopped by a sharp noise.

"It will not fit, Rock. Go away," X whined. His optics flashed dimly, wavering under his stress. "Go away!" He repeated when his initial demand was ignored.

The door clicked shut hastily. X was asleep before Rock's hydraulics faded from-- he searched for a word, settled on "earshot."

Sleep was...

  
X did not charge that day. When he woke up, he was on less power than before, with all of his vents open and wailing. Images from his background processes slipped out from under his optics, as well as the term that could describe his experience. His skull pulsed with heat. He struggled to figure out why.

He thought of asking the Doctor.

Making it out of Rock's room was slow-going.

"Doctor," X said quietly. He stared expressionlessly as the old man jumped-- a wonder, as X was causing a great deal of noise.

"X! You're aw-- are you quite alright?" Dr. Light looked at him with shock and concern, hand on his chest.

Quite alright? X logged this phrase for later. It sounded pleasant. His core whined in its fragile chamber, struggling to cool down. "I am not well," is all he can say.

X would have elaborated if not for the static overtaking his vision.


End file.
